State-of-the-art drivers today provide much more functionality than a basic/primary function providing ordinary on-off driving signals suitable in terms of voltage and/or current for its target light emitting devices (e.g. one or more LEDs). In essence the drivers are today designed to provide a plurality of functionalities and/or are made capable to operate for a plurality of target devices. Unfortunately this evolution results in too bulky and/or costly drivers.
The described capabilities of the state-of-the-art drivers are realized by providing as part of said drivers' architecture a plurality of circuits, typically each matched with a certain (even partly overlapping) functionality, such that when electing a certain use of the drivers (e.g. for a certain target device and a certain mode of operation) most of the other circuits remain available although they are not used. Hence the bulkiness and cost of the drivers do in practice not result in efficient use either.
Besides the fact that a model of driver might be significantly oversized relative to market need, further drawbacks regarding the state-of-the-art can be summarized as below:
Different drivers using different embodiments/connections means that electrical/mechanical integration within the luminaire has to be worked out for each of them.
Different drivers use different electronic circuits, hence electrical/thermal performances related to the basic/primary function have to be evaluated for each of them.
Different drivers use different electronic circuits, hence a certification process (electrical safety/standards compliance) has to be applied for each of them.